Beheaded and split in half

Good question again. Revelation is about what John saw in a vision/in person. Some say it has already happened, some say it is happening right now(over the centuries), and some say it has not transpired. Am of the opinion that all are true. I do not believe the seals/trumpets/vials have been opened/poured out yet but fear they may have started. How fast everything will finish and how fast the events will unfold is to be seen. It is hard to imagine what John saw and am sure he had a hard time putting it into words. The imagery had to be "camo'ed" during the time it was written and suppose those to whom it was written then fully understood it. We will understand the end when it starts as I do not think it will be easily mistaken for natural events. Again the object of the entire Bible is to prepare us so we can have a personal relationship with the creator of it all. That done we have nothing to fear, worry about, or have anxiety over.

 

Normally, the details and such (of Revelation) isn't really required for salvation, or our Lord would have precisely revealed it to us. Nevertheless, this does seem to need addressed; -06, you are right in the fact that throughout much of the bible the stories are mirrored throughout history. That is, having the same thing happening again and again, just the location and the people are different. Some things could mean this, or they could have ment that.

-BUT-

Revelation is actually quite specific about the time period, but wasn't interperated correctly until the time was right, and the Lord shown light on the prophesy. Most of the seals can be determined when they happened, all except for one. The last seal is the one we are waiting for, and when this one is opened, grace will end. You want to be on His side before that happens.

Seals 1-4 are the states of the christian church. Seal 1 was the beginning of Christianity, in it's pure and unadulterated form. Seal 2 deals with the Romans, where Christians were persecuted. Seal 3 was the paganistic and ritualistic influence over the church, making truth scarce. Seal four was when the Catholic Church of the middle ages made reading the bible against the law, punishable by death.

Seal 5 was a word to the believers- the blood of the saints will be avenged by God. But it's going to get worse before it gets better- God wants everyone to get saved, so he goes the distance throughout time to get everyone he can. This seal has to do with the reformation of the Christian Church.

Seal 6 has a lot of astrological phenomenon going on. Guess what- it all already happened! 1755 was the great Lisbon earthquake, still considered the most deadly earthquake in history. 1780, May 18: undescribable darkness fell over much of the world. No eclipse, no scientific reason. Google "the dark day". Nov 13,1833: the greatest meteor shower ever known with 200,000 meteors per hour. It was so bright you could read a newspaper at 12:00am. These were to signal the end of the dark ages.

We are right at Revelation 6:14, just waiting for it to happen.

 

ok, I'll wade into this with my simple thoughts on the topic, with a declaration that I am no scholar
and in no way shape or form do I mean to belittle anyone's comments or beliefs, I offer what I think only in an effort to exhort one another as iron sharpens iron
To me it was explained thus
revelation= what GOD chooses to show you through devine intervention, which will be to fulfill his purpose at this time
(keeping with scripture, he caused Nebachanezzar to become one living in the wild as a crazy man and allowed his mind to become so confused as to not know what was real)
( this also means that while you may think you know it all, you can not know all that GOD knows because he has not yet been fully revealed) and don't forget that to look upon his face means you will die

this differs from prophecy because...
prophecy= TRUTH
so, not just what you believe to be truth, but actual truth that is eternal and beyond what we think we know to be truth
also, prophecy is not bound by time, so just because you receive a prophecy does not mean it will take place in the linear timeline you see.... Remembering that GOD is omniscient and is in all places at all TIMES.
you,.. are right here....for now

Prophecy and Revelation are often intermingled and I think that we often do it incorrectly. I think that as soon as we have come to a conclusion about the intent of the one who created us, we err

Further, revelation and prophecy may be fulfilled many times different ways and to different degrees over many millenia

Jesus himself said " I am the Word"
and the word became flesh...

each day I walk he allows me more revelation of how much he loves me through his grace

having said all that, it was written that there would be those, persecuted for following Christ, and it has happened every day since he died on that cross, it is for his Glory.
Did one of the apostles not ask to be hung upside down so that he would not be crucified as Christ had been because he did not feel he was worthy to suffer as Christ had


one day at a time Brothers and Sisters, keep your eyes on the prize